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US 9,848,851 B2Granted
Ultrasound imaging system apparatus and method with ADC saturation monitor
AssigneeFujifilm Sonosite, Inc.
InventorsMitchell Kaplan, Andrew K. Lundberg, Thomas M. Duffy
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An ultrasound imaging system and method employs hardware and/or software to monitor values indicative of analog-to-digital converter (ADC) saturation for each channel as a function of depth. Any of a number of actions may be performed based on the monitored values. For example, analog amplification or TGC may be adjusted to enhance the use of a dynamic range of ADCs while reducing or eliminating ADC saturation. A TGC profile may be adjusted. An alert may be provided. A power consumption may be adjusted.
Claims16
An ultrasound system, comprising:
- a transducer array including a number of transducer elements configured to produce and transmit ultrasound into a body and produce analog return signals corresponding to received ultrasound returns from an imaging depth for a number of channels;
- an amplifier configured to amplify the analog return signals produced by the transducer elements in accordance with a depth dependent amplification function that compensates for attenuation of ultrasound with imaging depth;
- circuitry for
- converting the amplified analog return signals into digital return signals for the number of channels with a number of analog to digital converters (ADCs) each of which is configured to convert the analog return signals to digital return signals in a number of ranges of depths each of which is less than the entire imaging depth;
- detecting saturation in the ADCs for each range of depths by comparing the digital return signals produced by the ADCs with one or more thresholds indicative of saturation before the digital return signals are beamformed;
- and
- adjusting the depth dependent amplification function using the comparisons to reduce gain at a range of imaging depths which is less than the entire imaging depth from which the ultrasound returns are received where saturation is at least one of encountered, met and exceeded;
- and
- a digital signal processor configured to process the digital return signals.
6 more elements
An ultrasound system, comprising:
- a transducer array including a number of transducer elements configured to produce and transmit ultrasound into a body and produce analog return signals corresponding to received ultrasound returns from an imaging depth in a number of channels;
- an amplifier configured to amplify the analog return signals produced by the transducer elements in accordance with a depth dependent amplification function that compensates for attenuation of ultrasound with imaging depth;
- a number of analog to digital converters (ADCs) each configured to convert the amplified analog return signals into digital return signals in a number of ranges of imaging depths, each which is less than an entire imaging depth;
- processing logic programmed to
- monitor outputs of the ADCs by comparing the digital return signals from the ADCs for the number of channels with one or more thresholds at a plurality of different imaging depth ranges each of which is less than the entire imaging depth from which the ultrasound returns are received before the digital return signals are beamformed;
- and
- adjust the depth dependent amplification function in a range imaging depths which is less than the entire imaging depth from which the ultrasound returns are received based on the monitored outputs of an ADC associated with the range of depths;
- and
- a digital signal processor configured to process the digital return signals.
6 more elements
An ultrasound system, comprising:
- a transducer array including a number of transducer elements configured to produce and direct ultrasound into a body and to produce analog return signals corresponding to received ultrasound returns from an imaging depth for a number of channels;
- an amplifier configured to amplify the analog return signals produced by the transducer elements in accordance with a depth dependent amplification function that compensates for attenuation of ultrasound with imaging depth;
- a number of analog to digital converters (ADCs) each configured to convert the amplified analog return signals into digital return signals in a number of ranges of imaging depths, each of which is less than an entire imaging depth;
- processing logic configured to
- monitor outputs of the ADCs for the number of channels by comparing the digital return signals from the ADCs for each of the depth ranges with one or more thresholds before the digital return signals are beamformed;
- and
- adjust the depth dependent amplification function in a range imaging depths at which an analog to digital converter converts the analog return signals into digital return signals;
- and
- a digital signal processor configured to process the digital return signals.
6 more elements
An ultrasound system, comprising:
- a transducer array including a number of transducer elements configured to produce and direct ultrasound into a body and to produce analog return signals corresponding to received ultrasound returns from an imaging depth for a number of channels;
- an amplifier configured to amplify the analog return signals produced by the transducer elements in accordance with a depth dependent amplification function that compensates for attenuation of ultrasound with imaging depth;
- a number of analog to digital converters (ADCs) each associated with a channel of the ultrasound system and configured to convert the amplified analog return signals into digital return signals;
- and
- an ADC saturation monitor configured to
- monitor the digital return signals from the ADC for each channel by comparing the digital return signals received for a number depth ranges each of which is smaller than the entire imaging depth with one or more thresholds before the digital return signals are beamformed;
- and
- a register that records whether the digital return signals from an ADC are saturated in each of the depth ranges;
- and
- adjust a gain of the depth dependent amplification function for a range of depths where the digital return signals are saturated.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.